Three is a crowd Four is a multitude
by nobarriers
Summary: "Someday, I just want to marry a regular girl who isn't too ugly and not too pretty. Have two children, first a girl, then a boy. Retire after my daughter is married and my son becomes a successful, and spend the rest of my life playing shōgi or Go. Then die of old age before my wife." Plans change when you grow up. More or less. ShikaSaku


Sakura rubbed the sleep from her eyes once again and growled.

Why the fuck was she so tired?

She chugged down the last of her coffee, this was the third cup already.

Just 30 more minutes and she could eat something light and maybe slip in a nap?

"Everything okay, Sakura-san?" A male nurse asked.

"Yes, yes. Just tired for some reason"

"Well, you do work a lot Sakura-san"

She sighed loudly.

Someone had to run the fucking hospital.

"I got something to cheer you up"

"And what might that be?"

"Nursemaid's elbow behind curtain 18"

"Oooh. You know how to treat a girl, Ren-kun" she said, patting the pockets of her coat to make sure she had all the "instruments" necessary to treat the patient.

"I do try, Sakura-san" he said

Sakura chucked the empty cardboard cup on the trash and walked up to the nurse and patted his cheek. "One day you are going to make a girl very, very, very happy" she said before walking towards the curtain.

"Hello there. I'm Dr. Sakura." The Pinkette said as she moved the curtain aside and then moved it back in place. There was a little girl on the stretcher sitting calmly with her legs crossed. "What going on?" She asked giving the little thing a smile and turning towards the father who looked like he was about to hurl.

"We were playing in the yard and I grabbed her by the arms and gave her a swing and she was immediately upset. She started crying and screaming and holding her arm to her chest..." he said "I think I broke her arm"

"If you had broken her arm she would still be wailing. The nurses told me its a nursemaid's elbow"

"Nursemaid's elbow?"

"Yes. So essentially, the Head of the Radius that's attached to the Ulnar Notch and the Capitulum of the Humerus is dislocated"

"Oh my gods, I'm the worst father in the world!" The man said running his hands through his hair desperately.

Sakura smiled. "Don't worry about it. It's actually a pretty common injury. There's a reason why its called Nursemaid's elbow. Its because it was a frequent injury for Nannies and Nursemaids to cause when they pulled a kid from the forearm. Besides. It's got an easy fix"

"It does?"

"Yeah," she said pulling out two depressors from her pockets proceeded to put stickers on the top.

"What's your name, cutie?"

"Aoi," she said shyly.

"Hi, Aoi. My name's Sakura-chan"

"You got Pink hair"

She smiled "Yes I do. You like it?"

"Yes. It's pretty. Its like cotton candy"

At that, she laughed. "Well, it's good that it only LOOKS like cotton candy and doesn't taste like candy. Otherwise, I would be bald!" She said making the girl giggle.

"Tell me something, Aoi-chan. Do you like stickers"

"Yes! Yes, I do!" The girl squealed

"That's very good, Aoi chan, you see. I got two sticker buddies right here" she said holding one tongue depressor in each hand. "One for each hand. They are all yours. You just have to hold them" she said extending the tongue depressors to the little girl.

Immediately she took the right one with her right hand but instead of moving her left arm, she tried to grab it with her right hand.

"Can you use this hand?" she said motioning at the left one.

She got no response. The kid simply tried to use her right hand again.

"Can you use this hand, hun?" She said gently tapping the left hand with the tongue depressor.

"No"

"Does it hurt to use this hand, kiddo?"

The girl nodded.

"Okay. That's alright. You don't have to use it. Here you go" she said handing the tongue blade to the other hand.

"Alright" she said turning to the dad. "So like I said before, this actually has a really easy fix. Basically what we are going to do is that Im going to grab her hand, put my left hand beneath her elbow and support it, we shake hands, we turn the arm up, we pull forward, and then fold. And one of these mechanisms is going to bring the Radial Head to fall back into place. She might yelp when it falls back into place. But she's going to be fine. She will leave the hospital completely normal, okay?" she explained to the father before standing in front of the girl.

"Here. I'm going to show you how we are going to do this." She said taking the right hand. "We are going to shake hands. Turn up. Pull. And fold. And it's done! Wasn't that so easy?"

The girl giggled and nodded.

"Okay. So now the other hand. Ready? Shake" she said reaching out and grabbing the little girl's hand, placing her left one beneath the elbow. "Turn," she said supinating the arm. "Pull" she brought the arm forward "And fold" she folded the arm, feeling the Radial Head pop back into place.

Just as she predicted the kid began crying.

"I heard that," the father said.

"Yeah. It's back in place" Sakura said with a smile before reaching out and rubbing circles up and down the little girl's back. "It's okay. You did so good. It's fixed now. You are not going to believe me but you can move this hand now." She said soothingly

"Here. I got something for you" she reached into her pocket and pulled out a lollipop. Immediately the kid's eyes brightened. "Here. Take it with this hand" she said placing the lollipop near the left hand.

"It's yours. You can take it" she said.

The girl wiped her eyes with her right hand and then grabbed the lollipop with her left one.

"There you go. See? All better now!"

The father slumped on the chair rubbing his face. "Oh, gods. Thank you. Thank you so much Sakura-San. I had nightmares about telling my wife that I broke our daughter's arm while she was away on a mission"

Sakura gave the man a smile and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Hey. You are all good. It happens all the time. This is a classic peds injury. And it's a favorite cause it's got an easy fix. So, no harm no foul. There's nothing wrong with swinging your kid around. I did it all the time when my little one was still little. Just grab her by the upper arms next time" she said with a smile.

"You are a god-sent. Thank you Sakura-san"

"No problem. Take care okay?" She asked the father. "Bye Aoi chan, thank you for being the best patient ever"

She opened the curtain and slipped out, heading to the front desk to ask for a new patient when she stopped to smile, seeing her favorite person in the world

"Hello, sir. Is there anything I can do for you today?"

"Yes. You see I have this terrible stomach ache. And I was hoping you could take a look at it"

"Sure," she said walking up to him and placing a hand on his stomach and putting on her best thinking face. "Ah. I see. You have the Lazy Man's disease. But no worries. It's easily fixed. Tempura and maybe Dango and Green Tea afterward?" She asked.

"But of course. Would you care to accompany me? After all, you are my medic and should supervise my treatment"

Sakura smirked and looked at the clock. "Yes. I believe that's doable" she said very seriously before she broke into a fit of giggles. Her husband followed suit chuckling before resting his forehead against hers.

"Oh, my gods. You two are so adorable it's disgusting"

"Don't hate. Appreciate, Ren-kun" she said with a smirk as she handed the filled out report to the nurse.

"Yes, yes. Just go eat." The man said.

Sakura rolled her eyes "I just gotta drop my coat in the office."

"It's fine I can take it," Ren told her.

"But my purse-

"Who said you were paying, Sakura?"

"Fine fine. You two are so mean to me" she said taking off her coat and handing it to Ren.

"Now go be all sappy somewhere else"

Sakura stuck her tongue out at him, before taking her husband's arm.

Just before they made it out of the hospital something tackled the back of Sakura's legs.

"Oh!" She turned her head to see pretty brown hair tucked into her legs.

"Aoi!" She heard the name being called and saw the girl's father running after her.

She couldn't help but smile.

Kids were such a handful.

"Sakura-chan! Thank you for fixing my arm! Can I have a proper hug now?" She asked and god did her heart just melt.

"Aoi-...Sakura-san I am so sorry"

"Don't be. It's alright."

She let Shikamaru's arm go before kneeling down and opening her arms. The kid immediately ran into them. She pulled her close and stood up gently swaying so her legs would swing side to side making the girl squeal in delight.

Sakura placed the kid back down and ruffled her hair. "Now be good, okay? Don't run away from your papa anymore alright?"

"Yes, Sakura-chan!"

"Good girl"

"Thank you again, Sakura-san"

"It's no problem at all"

"Forgive the interruption," he said to her husband.

The man just smiled and shrugged his shoulders. "I got a kid of my own. I know how they are. Take care"

"Yes, Nara-san. Thank you"

Sakura once again took her husband's arm and waved as she began walking away.

* * *

"So. What's with the surprise lunch visit?" she asked.

"What? I can't take my wife out for lunch?"

Sakura raised a brow.

"Fine, fine. Troublesome woman. Sasuke came back this morning"

"Ah," she said eyebrows shooting upwards. She took a sip of her drink.

"Yeah. I had to leave the office. They were making gooey eyes at each other. It was a matter of time before they did unspeakable things on Naruto's desk."

Sakura snorted. "Never stopped you when it was MY desk"

"That's different. You get your work done"

Sakura laugh.

"Which by the way, your last patient was stupidly adorable." He said.

"Wasn't she?"

He hummed into his cup. "Makes me want another one"

Sakura choked on her drink, she patted her chest coughing loudly. "Y-You want another kid?"

The man shrugged his shoulders. "I wanted two kids when I was younger," he said. "But I also wanted to have a girl first. And I wanted to marry a regular girl who wasn't too pretty or too ugly" he smirked. "That all went to shit, as you can see. I married the furthest girl from regular, Sakura "I-Punch-A-God-On-The-Head" Haruno, who also happens to be one of Konoha's greatest beauties"

"Oh shush," she said stuffing a shrimp on her mouth trying to disguise her blush.

"You don't want another kid?" He asked.

"Chewing" she replied pointing at her chubby cheeks making her husband glower.

"Sakura"

"Okay. Alright," she said swallowing her food. "It's not that I don't want another kid….it's just...I don't think we can afford it Shika"

"What do you mean? Our salarie-

"Not financially, love," she said, reaching out and placing her hand on top of his "More so in a manner of time"

"Explain"

"You are always busy, Shika. You have a lot of responsibilities as Naruto's advisor. You basically run the village. Don't get me wrong. I love Naruto. But that man still gets confused between GDP and PPP"

"And what do you know of that?" He asked with a smirk

"Do you forget who my Shishou was? She also loved slacking on the paperwork so guess who had to pick up the slack?"

Shikamaru chuckled. "Let's not forget all of the late nights we spend awake in the Hokage's office during Kakashi's Time as Hokage"

"Exactly"

"We also did some unspeakable things to that desk"

He said giving her that stupid smirk of his.

The one that he gave her before he said "Itadakimasu" and went down on her.

Oh boy.

Bad thought to have lunch in a public place.

"Hush you," she said kicking his shin.

Trying to will the heat on her face to go away.

"Ow," he said as he let out a laugh, knowing very well she had been affected. "Anyways you were saying?"

"I was saying. You are as busy. If not busiER than the Hokage himself. Yes, you always come home. But it doesn't leave you much time to run around after tottering little feet. If Naruto is the Fire Shadow. You are his shadow. You are doing everything in your power to make sure this village runs like a well-oiled machine, and it's a really taxing job" she said.

"And what about you?"

"I was getting there," she said with a pout. "I don't exactly have all the time in the world either. I'm running the Konoha Hospital, the Pediatric Psychiatric Ward is still under construction, scratch that, The Entire Psychiatric Ward is under construction, maybe not physically, but the system it's still in its infancy. It's the classic unstoppable force against an immovable object. I mean you would think that after 90 years of Shinobi getting fucked up from all of the emotional baggage their carry, they be happy to be offered a system of relief. But nooooo! They are all smiles. And 'No ma'am's and 'no thank yous' and 'Im fines' and the next thing you know you are getting called to the Morgue to identify their corpses and I just-

"Sakura" Shikamaru cut her off, trying to reel her back to the conversation.

She sighed. "Point is...I don't want to have a kid to be handed off for someone else to raise. As much as you mom and mine would love that…" she said with a smirk. "But it's our responsibility. I love kids. You know that. I would do rounds in Peds every day if I could. And I love Shikaten. And I love us. But-"

"It's just not the right time," he said and she nodded sadly. "Oh don't give me that look," he said squeezing her hand. "You are right. As much as I love seeing you around kids, and as much as I love seeing you around MY kid, the little ones are...well.."

"Troublesome?" She asked with a smirk

"I was going to say a handful" he teased and she rolled her eyes. "And you are right on the basis that we don't really have the time to do all that now. A baby is a lot to handle. And we kind have our hands full at the moment"

She rubbed his knuckles soothingly with her thumb. "I'm sorry," she said softly and he shook his head. "Don't be. You already gave me Shikaten. I shouldn't be greedy" he said lifting her hand and placing it on his cheek, holding it in place with his own hand and leaning into the warmth of it.

Sakura always had warm hands

"You could never be greedy. Not when I would give you the world" she said with that soft, genuine smile that made his knees go weak and his chest ache from the lack of air.

Even after all of these years. She still knocked the breath out of him with a single smile.

"You are saying mushy stuff and it's gross" he teased, and she laughed.

Yeah, maybe he wouldn't have everything he wanted when he was a kid. But he certainly wouldn't change this for the world.

* * *

Sakura all but growled as she rubbed her hands down her face in exasperation. This fucking headache was going to make her kill somebody.

"Nara-san?" She heard a knock on the door.

"Come in" she called, pressing her fingers to her temple. "Honoka-chan. How may I help you?" She asked. "I have the discharge forms for Moriko-Kun in 217 and Kaori-chan in 414. I just need your signature"

"Ah yes. Here I can sign them" she said extending her hand and taking the charts eyeing them one more time.

217: Severe concussion, fractures on 7th and 8th rib as well as a type III fracture of the left ankle.

Ribs were repaired and bone growth was triggered through healing.

Brain function is normal, with no swelling or neurological symptomatology.

"Did you tell the kid to stay off the foot?"

"Yes Nara-san"

"Good. No more B-ranks for at least a month for this one." She said sighing the form and handing it to the nurse.

"I will tell him that Nara-san"

418: Second-degree burn on hand and forearm.

Debridement.

Chakra healing to close the wound.

Possible damage to nerves and limb functionality.

"I'd like to take a look at this one myself. Last I heard from this patient Yuka-chan thought she might lose the use of her arm"

"Of course, Nara-san." The woman watching as Sakura stood from her chair and put on her lab coat before walking out of her office.

Hospitals were loud.

That was a given.

People were crying, some were screaming commands and codes, there was the sound of the machines, the doctors talking to the patients, nurses reading reports.

Typical sounds that she was used to.

But today it all seemed so much worst.

The commands sounded like screeches, the machines sounded like explosions, the talking sounded like a battlefield.

Every sound she picked up only made the pounding in her head worst.

"Everything okay, Nara-san?"

"Yes, Honoka-chan," she said as she turned left and knocked on the door of 414.

"Yes?" A woman in her mid-40s opened the door. Pretty black hair and brown eyes.

"Hello. I'm Sakura Nara, the Head of the Hospital"

"Ah! Nara-san. Yes, yes. Please come in"

The girl on the bed was already dressed in her civilian clothes looking up expectantly. As soon as she saw the Pink hair she beamed. Sakura smiled.

"I just wanted to take one last look at Kaori-chan's arm before I discharge her"

"Yes of course!"

Sakura smiled at the woman before approaching the kid. She had those pretty chocolate eyes of her mother but she had short brown hair. The kid looked about Shikaten's age. She couldn't be more than 8.

"Hello. How are you today Kaori?"

"You know my name!" The girl announced excitedly.

Ah. Her reputation preceded her. "I know all of my patient's names, Kaori-chan. It's what a good Doctor does"

"And you are the best doctor in the world!" The girl announced.

"Well-

"Shino-sensei said so! We talked about the Fourth Shinobi War in History class and everyone was so excited talking about The Nanadaime and Uchiha-san but I thought you were the coolest of them all! Cause you can break mountains with your pinky! And you can heal a million people with your summon and, and, and-

"Okay. Okay," Sakura laughed nervously. "It's nice to know I have a fan. You want to be a medic-nin?"

"Yes! Just like you Sakura-San!"

Sakura couldn't hold back the giggle. "Alright kid. Tell you what? You come back to see me when you graduate from the Academy and we'll start on the basics"

The kid's face was filled with so much wonder that she thought the kid's face was permanently frozen in that position.

"Really! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Sakura-san!" She squealed and screamed bouncing up and down on the bed and oh, if it didn't sound like a cheese grater on a frying pan she would have laughed.

"Kaori! This is a hospital quiet down" her mother called. "I'm so sorry, Nara-san"

"It's okay," she said a bit stiffly before turning back to the beaming child. "Alright, kiddo. Before I let you go home and get back to your studying I need to check your arm one more time" she said. The girl immediately pulled her sleeve back and revealed the arm that was burned. She could see the heavy scarring on the arm, skin pink and inflamed.

"I'm going to scan the state of your arm with my chakra okay? Tell me if it hurts at any point."

"Okay"

Her hands glowed green, and she scanned the Terminal Axons on the muscle fibers.

"Can you open and close your hand for me? Like you are pumping something. I'll let you know when to stop okay?"

"Okay"

Pronator Quadratus: Axonotmesis

Flexor Carpi Ulnaris: Neurapraxia

Palmaris Longus: Neurapraxia

Flexor Carpi Radialis: No Damage

Flexor Digitorum Superficialis: Axonotmesis

Pronator Teres: No Damage

Brachioradialis: Axonotmesis

"Alright. Thank you, kiddo. You are good to go home. I would say take a day off from the Academy and stay away from Katon users. Okay?"

"Yes, Sakura San"

"Okay. Good. Now I just have to speak with your mom outside okay? Be good. And study hard"

"Yes, ma'am! Thank you!"

She smiled and exited the room with the girl's mother following after her.

"How bad?"

Sakura took a deep breath. The mask of the doctor clicking into place. "Bad. Most of the Peripheral Nerves of the forearm are pretty damaged. There is a lot of Axonotmesis, Class II nerve damage. So motor and sensory signals are not reaching the muscle properly. She can move the arm as you saw. But the full mechanic movement is not there"

The mother clutched her chest.

"She can't be a ninja, then"

Sakura pursed her lips. She didn't know many one-armed ninja but Sasuke.

"This is her entire world. What am I going to tell her?"

"Bring her in for chakra therapy once every two weeks," she said pulling a post-it note from her pocket and grabbing the pen from her breast pocket on her coat.

"You are going to call this number. This is the number of Physical Therapy Wing. You are going to set an appointment with Dr. Uyeda. I would do the therapy myself but medics need to know when they are bested. My specialty is visceral medicine. This is guy is the one when it comes to nerves and rehabilitation of motor usage. He is a Top-Notch Medic. Tsuneo even helped the Nanadaime adapt to his new arm. He will determine the real damage to the nerves and tell you the prognosis as well as what the next steps are. And if it's not good, she still has some movement." She said, taking another breath. "Listen, she still has her arm, which is the important thing. She can move it. Axonal regeneration might not be completely impossible. Even if there isn't anything that Dr. Uyeda can do, she can still be a Ninja. She has the advantage of time. Kids her age are sponges, and she looks like one heck of a smart cookie. If Sasuke Uchiha can figure out how to be a One-Arm Ninja after Adulthood, then sure as hell Kaori can learn too." she said, offering the post-it note to the woman.

"Oh. Thank you. Thank you, Haruno-San" she said with tears in her eyes.

"Hey. It's okay. She's a strong kid, isn't she?" She asked and the woman nodded. "She's going to be just fine. Whatever the outcome is. She will be fine" she said, offering her a smile.

The woman threw herself into her arms and Sakura patted her back soothingly.

* * *

"Tadaima"

"Okaeri"

"Okaeri, kachan!"

"Okaeri, dear"

Ah, so Yoshino was home. Probably making dinner because her lazy husband couldn't be bothered.

Sakura kicked off her sandals and dragged herself towards the kitchen, where Yoshino was at the stove (as she suspected) while Shikamaru was reading something in a file. Most likely work he brought home.

"Kachan" she heard her son say as he stood from the table and wrapped his arms around her middle. She smiled and wrapped one of her arms around his shoulder as she brushed his hair back with the other hand.

"Hi, little fawn"

"Kachan you look like crap"

"Shikaten!" She heard Yoshino snap. "I swear to the gods above he gets his bad behavior from you!" She hissed at Shikamaru pointing at him with the ladle.

But the man couldn't be bothered. His eyes were on her, and he wore the same he gave her during the war. That one time she used up all of her chakra healing the wounded and collapsed. The look he gave her when she woke up was filled with anger and disappointment that she simply couldn't care enough about herself to not collapse in such a fashion.

"Shikamaru. I'm talking to you!" Yoshino snapped.

Sakura motioned towards the woman with a tilt of her head.

_Pay attention before she kills you. We'll talk later_

He gave a single nod.

_We will_

"Yes, mom" was all Shikamaru said before returning to his reading.

Sakura scoffed, looking down at her son who was still scrutinizing her, wearing a similar expression to the one his father had worn just bare moments ago.

"Whatchu looking at squirt? Haven't I taught you that staring is rude?" She asked pinching his cheek not so gently.

"Ow. Ow. Ow. Kachan! That hurts!"

Fuck her head hurt.

She released his cheek with a weak smile and kissed his forehead. "Don't make your grandma angry, okay? Go apologize to her" she whispered to his ear.

He gave her an annoyed look and a pout. She only motioned with her head and he sighed, letting go of her and walking towards Yoshino, and wrapping his arms around her middle.

She didn't hear the apology but she knew he had done it because she received a hug and a kiss from a woman.

Shikamaru cleared his throat, and she looked at him. He motioned to the chairs.

_Sit down. You look like you are about to collapse_

She rolled her eyes at him but obeyed nonetheless.

Troublesome husband.

"Shikamaru. No work on the dinner table. Move the file before you get soup all over it"

"Let me help," Sakura said trying to stand up

"Sakura, sit down"

That was her husband.

And he was using his "Commander of the 4th Division to the Shinobi Allied Forces" tone of voice with her.

She punched a fucking God on the head.

That shit didn't work with her.

She glared at her husband the same way she glared at her boys when they said/did something idiotic and there was only the promise of pain.

And likewise, that shit didn't work on him.

He had Yoshino for a mother and Ino for a teammate.

"It's okay, Kachan. I can help"

She turned to look at her son, and she saw how unnerved he was. Yoshino had the same look in her face but said nothing, only began serving dinner.

Sakura glared at him again

_Check your temper around my son_.

He glared back.

_Check that you won't collapse around my son._

Yoshino cleared her throat loudly as she set down the plates.

Unadon, Miso Soup, and Tsukemono.

"Thank you, Yoshino," Sakura said with a tired smile. "And thank you, little fawn," she said as she patted her kid's head when he set the plate of Unadon in front of her. He gave her a worried look.

She smiled at him and cupped his cheek. The boy leaned into the touch, much like his father did when she cupped his cheek.

"It's going to get cold, fuzzball," she said.

He nodded and sat next to her and began eating.

Sakura was hungry, and the food was delicious. Yoshino was a mean cook. She knew that much.

But her stomach had been in knots ever since she had coffee in the afternoon to keep herself awake and get through the pile of paperwork.

She had to keep on fighting nausea.

Shikamaru was still staring at her.

The medic sighed and began with the miso soup.

Maybe that would soothe her stomach.

"So. Shikaten. How was the academy today?" Yoshino asked. And bless the gods for her mother in law.

"It was good. We learned Kage Bushin today. Or tried to at least. I don't think I will ever make as many as uncle Naruto"

"I don't think anyone can make as many as Naruto, son" Shikamaru said sticking a parcel of rice into his mouth and chewing. He spared his wife a look and then turned back to his son.

The booming on her head was starting to become unbearable. She had healed her headache at least twice more during the day and the fucker always came back.

It only added to her exhaustion.

The voices of her family slowly faded to the background and in its place, a loud ringing overtook her ears.

Her vision began to blur around the edges.

"Sakura"

Her head snapped towards her mother in law who was looking at her with concern.

"Dear does the food not taste good? You have barely touched it"

"No. No. Of course not Yoshino. It's delicious as always I'm just not very hungry."

Shikamaru's eyes narrowed.

She ignored him.

"It was just a very long day. I had a squad being admitted to Emergency close to the end of my shift and most of them were sent to shock or surgery," she said.

"Why don't you let me put this away, then. At least you ate a little. I'm sure you can eat the rest in the morning"

She smiled at her mother in law.

"Go on and take a shower. I will take care of the dishes."

"Thank you, Yoshino," she said standing from the table and leaning down to kiss Shikaten on the head.

"Night, Kachan"

"Night, baby"

She said before disappearing behind the door of the Master Bedroom.

Shikaten raised his eyes to his father. "Is Kachan okay?" He asked.

"She's just tired, Shikaten"

"No, she's hurting"

"How do you know?"

"She has a face. I know what Kachan looks when shes tired. Her eyes are droopy. But when she's in pain they are barely open and her brow furrows really tight so she gets these lines between her eyebrows. What's going on?"

Yoshino finished putting away Sakura's food and sat back at the table.

"Son, don't worry about it. She's most likely low on chakra-"

"That's not it and you know it! How do you want me to not worry? She's my Kachan!"

Yoshino and Shikamaru shared a look and Shikamaru felt his lips twitch, pride filling his chest

Shikaten was a good son.

"You are right. I'm sorry for patronizing you. She is your mother and you have the right to know what's going on" he began."I'm going, to be honest with you Shikaten, right now your guess it's as good as mine. Your mom is an excellent medic, but she makes a terrible patient. She's been having these headaches for a while, I keep telling her to get them checked. But she's as stubborn as they come"

Shikaten nodded. "It sounds like her. Auntie Ino said that she used to take many shifts at once at the hospital and she collapsed more than once"

"She did. She's always been that way, taking care of everyone else before herself"

"I don't like when she's like that"

"I know, kiddo. Neither do I" he said. "I'm going to have a long chat with your mom, okay? And as soon as I know what's going on. I will let you know" he said.

Shikaten nodded his head. "Thank you, oyaji"

Shikamaru smiled.

He was too much his father's son, and too much his mother's son.

* * *

The rest of the dinner was uneventful. His mother did the dishes and said her goodnights and he tucked in his son before heading to the bedroom.

He wasn't surprised to find Sakura completely passed out, hair wet, only a towel wrapped around her body.

"Troublesome woman" he growled as he walked towards her and disposed of the half dry, half wet towel.

"...maru?" She asked.

"Get under the covers. You are going to catch a cold" he said as he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her to him to lift the covers out of the way. His wife moved groggily as she kicked away the sheets and curled up on her side.

Shikamaru threw the covers on her and she saw a smile curling on her lips.

"Thank you, maru"

He rolled his eyes and leaned down to whisper in her ear. "You are such a troublesome woman," he said to her kissing her temple.

"Love you too"

He sighed.

He couldn't stay mad at this woman

* * *

Sakura greeted morning slowly, feeling better after a long night's rest. She opened her eyes and looked around the room finding the bed next to her empty.

_That's odd._

She was usually the one that got up first. Green eyes scanned the room and found the alarm clock next to her on the nightstand and jumped out of bed like her ass was on fire.

She was late.

2 fucking hours late.

Why hadn't she woken up?

"Fuck, fuck, fuck" she hissed as she ran around the room like a headless chicken trying to get dressed. The Nara matriarch ran out of the bedroom but halted by the kitchen when she heard music.

"Yoshino?" She asked as she stepped into the kitchen/dining room only to find her husband sitting at the table, eating his breakfast calmly while he read a book, soft music on the radio playing.

"Shikamaru? What are you doing at home? Shouldn't you be at work?" She asked approaching him

"I'm not going today," he said not raising his eyes from his book.

"Huh?"

"And neither are you" He met her eyes for a brief moment before looking back to his book.

"Excuse me?"

"You are not excused. Sit down and eat something. You barely ate last night" he said taking a piece of fish with his chopsticks and sticking it into his mouth.

"This is ridiculous. I'm going to work"

"You are not," the man said putting his book down. "I already called in and let them know that you aren't coming today," he said in a neutral tone.

"What?" She barked.

"You heard me"

"How dare you infer with my work! Do you have any idea of who I am! Of what I do!? I run the fucking hospital! There are meetings to attend! Forms to sign! I don't get to take a day off because I fucking felt like it!'

"**_I_ **felt like it!" Shikamaru snapped. "You came in looking like a zombie last night. You almost collapsed at the dinner table! Shikaten is worried sick about you!"

At his last statement, Sakura shrunk a bit, her anger deflating, arms coming up around her torso.

"What's going on, Sakura?" He asked.

Her gaze was fell to the ground.

"Sakura."

She closed her eyes.

"Alright fine. You don't want to talk. Don't talk. But you aren't going to work either. You are staying at home until you are better. And if I have to stay in and babysit then so be it"

Her blood was boiling and this time she met his gaze again.

"Babysit! I'm your wife, not a child!" She hissed.

"Then stop acting like it and tell me what the hell is going on!"

"I don't know okay!" She snapped angrily, feeling tears breaming her eyes.

Fuck.

Why was she so emotional?

"It's the headaches again isn't it?" He asked her.

She sniffled and nodded.

"It's the headaches and I'm always tired, and dizzy. And it's so stupidly irritating" she growled, wiping her eyes.

Shikamaru sighed and stood from his seat and walked up to his wife, enveloping her in his arms, resting his chin on her head.

Slowly she uncurled herself and wrapped her arms around him.

"It's been a week, Sakura. I told you to get that checked."

"Not every day is a bad day" she replied meekly.

"Doesn't matter. It has happened with enough frequency that is a concern"

She let out a small whine and hid her face further into his chest.

"I just have so much to do. I have meetings, and rounds, and paperwork and-"

"And if you don't take care of yourself. You can't take care of others" he said to her

He felt her sigh, hot air hitting his chest.

"You are right"

Shikamaru smirked. "Hmm. How do those words taste coming out of your mouth?"

"Like vinegar" she replied and he couldn't contain his laughter.

"World-renowned doctor. Runaway patient" he hummed against her head pressing a kiss to her forehead.

She finally looked up from his chest and gave him a weak smile, pecking his lips. "Sorry I lost my temper"

"It's part of your charm," he said making her giggle.

"I will make an appointment today"

He nodded. "Thank you," he said. "Is your stomach feeling any better?"

"Yeah. I'm less queasy"

"Good. You want me to reheat what we had last night?"

"Yes, please. Thank you, Anata"

"Here." He said handing her the phone. "Make an appointment while I reheat breakfast. I want you to eat before you go to work"

"I thought you said you called my day off"

"Partially. I told them you would be coming in after lunch"

"You...you little lying shit"

"I'm a ninja sweetheart, it's part of the job description," he said with a chuckle.

* * *

"Other than the headaches and the dizziness have you had any other symptoms?" Yuka, one of The Hospital's best diagnosticians asked.

"No," Sakura said.

The doctor removed their glowing hands from Sakura's temples.

"How frequently do the headaches present?"

"At least two or three times a day. I usually heal them but they come back after a while."

"Hmm. Well. Brain functioning is nerves are being pinched by Cervical Disks either. I would rule it as a Stress Headache if it wasn't so persistent. So maybe it's some sort of hormonal imbalance?"

Sakura bit her lower lip, thinking. "Maybe. But I haven't noticed anything being off"

"But you have also being caught up with a lot of things, haven't you?" She asked.

Sakura pouted and slumped her shoulders.

"Tell you what. Let's just run some basic blood tests and we'll see what we come up with"

Sakura sighed. "Alright."

At least it would put her husband at ease.

* * *

"Well, Sakura-san. I guess congratulations are in order" Yuka said as she came into the room with the yellow file, containing the results of the blood test.

"Congratulations?" She asked taking the manila file and reading the contents inside.

Oh, she was going to be sick.

She was going to be so sick.

It wasn't a figure of fucking speech

She was really going to hurl.

"Sakura-san?"

She pressed her mouth to try to keep the vomit inside of her mouth but it became completely futile and she not only ended up being sick on the floor...but also on Yuka-chan' new sandals.

* * *

Sakura felt like her feet were made out of lead.

The world around her faded, and she could only hear the sound of her labored breathing, her heart drumming in her ears.

She stopped in the middle of the street, panting like she had run a marathon.

She couldn't wait for him to come home.

This couldn't wait.

She turned on the balls of her feet and jumped on the roofs, taking up speed, ignoring the burn of her lungs, and the cramping of her legs.

Ignoring the way the tears made her hair wet as they were brushed away by the wind.

Sakura arrived at the Hokage tower, a mess of heaping sobs. She ignored the questioning looks as she ran up the stairs of the tower towards the Hokage office and slammed the door open.

Naruto's head shot up, his eyes taking in her disheveled appearance, the blotchy mess of her face.

"Sakura-chan!" He said as he stood up from his desk.

She moved her eyes to the corner of her room where her husband was and her sobs only became louder.

"Sakura-chan, what's wrong?"

She heard Naruto say but she only had eyes for the man who had stolen her heart oh, so long ago.

"Sakura" his voice was soothing and gentle, and his chocolate eyes were so, so full of concern, so very scared. His hands were trembling slightly. "Sweetheart"

She cried harder, and he was in front of her in a millisecond.

"Sweetheart. What's wrong? What is it?"

She shook her head unable to hold back the tears and the sobs.

"Sweetheart looks at me," he said grabbing her face with his hands. "What is it? What's it what the doctor said?"

She nodded her head desperately still crying.

The way his pupils expanded let her know that his adrenaline was pumping.

He was in fight or flight mode.

He was scared. Oh, so very scared

"What did the doctor say? What was it? Sweetheart, please. Please….tell me how long-

"I'M PREGNANT YOU IDIOT!"'

* * *

They were lying in bed tangled in each other's embrace.

Her head on his chest.

His arms around her waist, fingers tracing idle patterns on her sides.

Shikamaru was lucky to be alive.

Naruto almost ripped his head off.

"You are the worst" she finally spoke. "You knocked me up again"

"Must I remind you, you were a willing participant in this act?"

Silence fell amongst.

"You made me think that you were dying the way you came in crying into the office" Shikamaru piped in.

He felt her bury herself further into his arms.

"I'm sorry"

The man pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Don't be. I can only imagine what a shock it was. Especially after we decided that we weren't having any more kids"

She hummed, pressing a kiss to her shoulder. "We'll figure it out. How to manage time for the little one and be there for them"

"We will. We always figure it out"

Silence took over again.

"Gods I hope it's another boy"

Sakura gave him a confused look. "I thought you wanted a girl and a boy"

"Yeah. That was before I had a very interesting conversation with Chouji about raising girls"

"Oh?"

"Turns out, when you have a son, your main concern is one Penis. When you have a daughter. Your main concern is literally every Penis in the world"

Sakura burst into laughter.

* * *

Omake:

14 years later

"Of course, I am the favorite child, Shikaten. I'm the prodigy after all"

"Shut up, Shikaru, you weren't even planned. Dad thought you were cancer and mom cried for like 4 hours straight when she found out she was pregnant with you. Favorite my ass"


End file.
